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ADVOCATES ACT 1961: Now, lawyers can practise, as a matter of right, in all courts and forums, including tribunals or any quasi-judicial authority. Fifty years after the Advocates Act, 1961, came into force, the Centre has notified Section 30 of the Act with effect from Wednesday to enable advocates to practise anywhere. This provision was not notified when the Act was added to the statute book. As a result, in certain courts and tribunals, lawyers could appear only if they were permitted by the presiding officer. The long-pending demand of lawyers for notifying this Section was fulfilled, thanks to Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily's initiative. Section 30 says: Subject to the provisions of this Act, every advocate shall be entitled as of right to practise throughout the territories to which this Act extends; in all courts including the Supreme Court; before any tribunal or person legally authorised to take evidence; and before any other authority or person before whom such advocate is by or under any law for the time being in force entitled to practise. In an interaction earlier this month with The Hindu, Mr. Moily said he would take immediate steps to get Section 30 notified 2.INDIA WITHDRAWING HELICOPTERS FROM UN CONGO MISSION: India is preparing to withdraw its four remaining Mi-35 attack helicopters from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) early next month after expiry of its contract with the U.N. mission, a top Indian official here has said. Manjeev Singh Puri, India's Deputy Ambassador to the U.N., said that India needed its helicopters. The contract has ended, he told PTI. Mr. Puri also underlined the need for more consultation with troop-contributing countries about the mandate of peacekeeping missions which was getting more complicated. The Indian official added that there had been some movement on consultations but it wasn't enough. The Turtle Bay blog on the Foreign Policy website described the loss of helicopters as depriving the U.N. of its most vital military asset as the country heads into a landmark presidential election. The Indian drawdown will deal a blow to the U.N. mission, the U.N. focused blog said, noting that France is about to introduce a resolution that calls for greater role of peacekeepers to protect civilians ahead of the elections in Congo. India believes it is not accorded the respect it deserves on the world stage, and thinks its reputation has been tarnished in the Congo mission, it added. 3.VACCINE FOR TB AND HIV:

Scientists at the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) here have hit upon a new molecule with anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties that could potentially lead to a better drug for the treatment of TB and common HIV sub-types. The team at TRC extracted the molecule, Transitmycin, from the marine microorganism Streptomyces sp. isolated from a soil sample off the Rameswaram coral reef. The brominated and pigmented (yellow) antibiotic was found effective during in vitro tests against dormant and active forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis the pathogen that triggers one of the leading infectious diseases worldwide. The Transitmycin molecule also exhibited promising inhibiting capability against certain common HIV sub types such as clade B and C (HIV clade C is the most common HIV strain in India) and pathogens such as E. Coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The significance of the discovery of this molecule is that it comes at a time when there is very little to offer to patients developing multi-drug resistance to otherwise effective drugs in the regimen like Rifampicin and isoniazid, said Vanaja Kumar, Head of Bacteriology at TRC, Chennai. The combined resistance to Rifampicin and isoniazid has an adverse impact on the TB control programme. Compounding matters is the emergence of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR) involving resistance to fluoroquinolone and one of the three second-line injectibles (capreomycin, kanamycin or amikacin). Equally significantly, the molecule's dual anti-bacterial and anti-viral action could lead to a drug that could simultaneously treat patients co-infected with TB-HIV, she said. Conventionally, Rifampicin (TB) and Nevirapine (HIV) cannot be used simultaneously. Given the antibiotic efficiency of the basic molecule, further refinement of the compound could improve potency by 10 to 20 times, said Mukesh Doble, Professor, Department of Biotechnology, IIT-Madras. Along with IIT-M, Periyar University, Salem also collaborated in the Rs.20-lakh project funded by the Department of Science and Technology. Animal trials R. Balagurunathan, co-investigator and head of Microbiology, Periyar University, hoped that animal trials could soon be launched as the Indian Council of Medical Research had agreed to provide linkages with ICMR institutions with animal houses. Scientists pointed out that while actinomycetes are the most valuable microorganisms capable of producing chemically diverse metabolites with wideranging biological applications, the rate of discovering new compounds from terrestrial actinomycetes has decreased in the recent past. http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/16/stories/2011061651451300.htm http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/16/stories/2011061657891200.htm http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/16/stories/2011061657901200.htm 4.India and OECD talks for better tax compliance:

india and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have decided to enhance their cooperation in dealing with issues relating to transfer pricing and promote better tax compliance and measures to improve the prevention and regulation of cross border disputes. The agreement for increased cooperation in this regard was reached during the course of the two-day (June 13-14) international seminar on Adopting tax system and international tax rules to the new global environment: A shared challenge for India and the OECD' at a time when the Indian government is under tremendous pressure to go after the tax evaders and nab those who have stashed black money in offshore accounts. Both [India and the OECD] agreed for enhanced tax cooperation and suggest measures which will provide greater certainty to both taxpayers and the governments, the Finance Ministry said in a statement here on Wednesday. The OECD, the statement said, appreciated the action taken by India in handling the twin issues of tax evasion and black money. In particular, the government has adopted a five-pronged strategy to tackle the illicit fund and this includes joining the global crusade against black money and creation of an appropriate legislative framework. According to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurra, the phenomenal economic advances India has made in recent years and its growing integration into the global economy have exposed its tax policies to the same challenges facing the industrialised countries, notably how to adapt its domestic tax system and its international tax policies to a borderless economy, and how to ensure that the approaches embraced today will be well-suited to meet tomorrow's needs. During the seminar, participants explored some of the most complex challenges posed by the taxation of multi-national enterprises in a global economy. India and OECD also announced plans to strengthen ongoing co-operation on tax-related issues through development of a three-year partnership that will provide greater opportunities for structured dialogue and sharing of information. .